Sweden to reopen rape probe against WikiLeaks founder Assange

Julian Assange is to be investigated in Sweden in a rape case dating from August 2010, prosecutors announced on Monday.

The WikiLeaks founder, currently in Belmarsh prison in London, now faces likely extradition from Britain.

“My assessment is there is still probably cause [to investigate] rape and a lesser offence,” said Eva-Marie Persson, Sweden’s deputy director of public prosecutions.

“An arrest warrant was issued and Julian Assange was declared an internationally wanted suspect” in November 2010, added Persson.

After Assange skipped bail in the UK and went into hiding at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, “the extradition order was impossible to enforce”, Persson added.

In November 2016, Assange was interviewed by Ecuadorian prosecutors after an agreement was reached between Sweden and Ecuador to co-operate in criminal investigations.

“Mr Assange was recently sentenced to 50 weeks in prison [in the UK],” said Persson. “He will serve 25 weeks before he is eligible for release.

“My intention is to submit to the district court today to appoint a public defender. It is also my intention in the near future [to ask] that the district court order Mr Assange remanded in absentia,” said Persson, speaking in Stockholm.

“I will proceed to issue a European arrest warrant providing for him to be extradited to Sweden after serving his sentence in the UK.”

But the US also wants to extradite Assange over his publishing of leaked military videos showing the killing of civilians in Iraq. “The US will submit a formal extradition request to the UK no later than 14 June 2019,” Persson noted.

So which extradition request will be given greater priority?

“This decision will be left entirely to the British authorities,” said Persson. “If he’s extradited to Sweden, he must not be extradited to a third country without the consent of the British authorities.

“A future Brexit will not, according to available information, impact on the case.”

Julian Assange’s Swedish lawyer said he was “very surprised” by the decision and said his client was innocent.

“I do not understand the Swedish prosecutor’s… reasoning for reopening a 10-year old case,” Per E Samuelsen told Swedish broadcaster SVT.

Swedish prosecutors had filed preliminary charges in 2010 after two women said they were victims of sex crimes commited by Assange when he visited the country.

Seven years later, a case of alleged sexual misconduct was dropped when the statute of limitations expired.

That left a rape allegation, and the case was closed as it couldn’t be pursued while Assange was living at the embassy and there was no prospect of bringing him to Sweden.

The statute of limitations on that case doesn’t expire until 17 August 2020.

“While Mr Assange is serving his sentence in the UK, I intend to futher the investigation as much as possible,” said Persson. That could include interviews via video link, she added.

“I would like to make the following very clear: My decision to re-open the preliminary investigation is not an indication of whether to file an indictment with the court,” Persson concluded.

On World Press Freedom day, earlier this month, WikiLeaks said the legal campaign against Assange was “a dangerous attack on all publishers”.

“It is Julian Assange who is facing persecution today, but this an attack on every single journalist who has ever published material, and every publisher and broadcaster around the world who understands the public interest in doing so,” read a statement.

He has denied the allegations against him, asserting that they were politically motivated and that the sex with the two women who have accused him was consensual.

The 47-year-old Australian met the women in connection with a lecture in August 2010 in Stockholm. One was involved in organising an event for Sweden’s centre-left Social Democratic Party and offered to host Assange at her apartment. The other was in the audience.

Assange left Sweden for Britain in September 2010. In November that year, a Stockholm court approved a request to detain Assange for questioning.

He was arrested by British police on April 11 after a change in leadership in Ecuador revoked his political asylum. A letter signed by more than 70 MPs, across the political divide, urged Home Secretary Sajid Javid to prioritise any extradition request to Sweden over any from the United States.

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‘The epitome of privilege’: Booker supporters rail against Buttigieg mania

Frustrated allies of Sen. Cory Booker are questioning whether the media is giving the New Jersey Democrat a fair shot. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo

2020 Elections

The two presidential contenders boast some of the same credentials. So why is Mayor Pete getting all the attention?

One of the Democrats running for president is a youthful former Rhodes Scholar who speaks more than one language and cut his teeth as a two-term mayor. The other is Pete Buttigieg.

Buttigieg’s sparkling resume has been the subject of countless profiles, powering the South Bend mayor to the top tier of the 2020 field. Sen. Cory Booker, however, hasn’t received nearly as much attention and remains mired in the middle of the pack in recent polls.

Story Continued Below

The similarities between their credentials — and the disparity between how their campaigns have been covered on the campaign trail — are frustrating Booker allies who question whether the media is giving the New Jersey senator a fair shot.

“He’s at a disadvantage anytime he’s not treated on the same playing level as all the other candidates,” said South Carolina state Rep. John King, who has endorsed Booker. “There should be a campaign where people start to question the process when there’s not fairness — and especially within the media.”

Some see echoes of 2016, when Donald Trump’s media dominance drowned out his Republican rivals en route to securing the GOP presidential nomination and later the White House.

In recent weeks, Buttigieg has been profiled, among other places, in Time magazine, New York magazine and Vogue, and his husband, Chasten, was the subject of a feature story in The Washington Post. Even his communications adviser was the focus of a POLITICO magazine story.

“I guess I’m a little gun-shy because I remember what happened four years ago when all of the attention was based on this guy from New York who happened to be a billionaire by the name of Donald Trump,” said state Rep. Jerry Govan, a senior legislator who chairs the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus.

“Nobody controls who the media covers but the media,” he continued. “It’s important for them to get it right this time. If folks got a good message, that message deserves to be covered. I think the American people deserve the opportunity to hear the truth, to have a clear understanding of where people stand on the issues that they care about, and the media’s the only entity that can do that, and that’s its job.”

Other Democrats see Buttigieg’s rise as a reflection of entrenched racial and gender biases — that the Buttigieg bump would be impossible if he wasn’t a white man.

“What I hear from people is that they see the epitome of privilege,” said Antjuan Seawright, a South Carolina-based strategist, who also credits the South Bend mayor for being an excellent communicator.

The frustration is closer to the surface in South Carolina, where African Americans cast roughly 60 percent of Democratic primary votes in 2016 and where Booker has been a frequent presence.

“I think Cory is just as accomplished,” said a senior Democrat in South Carolina, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the sensitive subject. “And I’ve heard grumblings from a number of people [who have asked], ‘Why hasn’t he gotten that type of exposure?’”

Spokespersons for the Booker and Buttigieg campaigns declined to comment for this story.

As a mayor of a relatively modest-sized city, Buttigieg is something of a novelty in the race compared to Booker, who is one of seven sitting senators in the field. There’s a sense among some within Booker’s campaign that he’d generate more buzz if he were running for president as the mayor of Newark, his old job, rather than as a senator from New Jersey.

But it’s not as if Booker is a boring, standard-issue politician. He’s one of just three African Americans in the Senate. He’s a former Stanford college football player who is dating actress Rosario Dawson. The 2005 “Street Fight” documentary chronicling Booker’s mayoral campaign against incumbent Sharpe James was nominated for an Academy Award, and news of his rescue of a neighbor from her burning home was picked up nationally when it happened in 2012.

Booker, in fact, has had a national profile for far longer than Buttigieg, who has run unsuccessful races for Indiana state treasurer and Democratic National Committee chairman.

“Pete Buttigieg, despite his staff’s good press work, doesn’t have that remarkable a story,” said Jess Morales Rocketto, a Democratic strategist who worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.

She pointed to Booker and Julián Castro, the former Obama Cabinet secretary and San Antonio mayor, as better alternatives for voters who want a candidate with mayoral experience.

“Senator Booker and Secretary Castro would both be historic presidents and have both presented clearer policy visions than Mayor Pete,” Rocketto said.

A state legislator who declined to be identified because he’s aligned with a different 2020 campaign speculated that Buttigieg’s success in attracting media attention is more about the historic nature of his campaign than anything else.

“He would become the first openly gay person to become president of the United States. That’s big, especially in this era,” the lawmaker said. “Sen. Booker, we’ve seen that before. Even though he’s got his qualifications, we’ve seen black men that have run for president. We’ve seen a black man that’s already been elected as president. And so it wouldn’t be unsurprising that he wouldn’t generate the same kind of momentum.”

State Rep. JA Moore, who co-chairs California Sen. Kamala Harris’ campaign in South Carolina, says part of the problem is that, as someone long considered to be a rising Democratic star, Booker’s narrative is a familiar one in the party — while Buttigieg’s is not.

“The unfortunate truth for Cory is that his story was told from a national perspective back in 2012 and 2010 and 2008. So it’s difficult to retell your story on a national level again,” said Moore. “Mayor Pete’s story from a national perspective is just now being told.”

Moore said he likes Booker and still keeps in contact with him. But “his story isn’t fresh anymore,” he said. “Once you’ve heard it 16 or 20 times or more in the past over 10 years now, that’s difficult to be the fresh media darling when people already know you.”

Alex Thompson contributed to this report.

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These 2 old ‘Game of Thrones’ visions basically predicted Episode 5

Warning: Contains ashy spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5.

Wow, okay. That was a cheery episode, wasn’t it?

While the penultimate Game of Thrones outing seems to have divided people, though, it’s worth noting that it wasn’t necessarily a huge surprise.

Like many things that have happened so far this Season, the clues were there all along.

Obviously there was all the historical foreshadowing — The Mad King; that unnerving expression about tossing a coin whenever a new Targaryen is born — but there were also the literal clues: the visions.

As highlighted on Reddit by u/WijoWolf, here’s a reminder of Daenerys’ vision of a ruined Iron Throne from Season 2.

Daenerys has that vision while she’s in the House of the Undying, back in the good old Quarth days. In it she walks through the ruined shell of the Iron Throne room while white flakes fall around her.

Obviously at the time we didn’t know what those flakes were, and with the White Walkers still a threat many assumed they were snow. But now we know better.

And that wasn’t the only vision that pre-empted episode 5’s carnage, either.

Here’s a GIF from a vision Bran has of King’s Landing back in Season 4, which was posted on Reddit by u/firetypecharizard.

A vision of a ruined throne room, and a vision of a dragon sweeping the capital.

This destruction has been a long time coming.

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Crypto exchange Binance says trading will resume tomorrow

Binance has strengthened its security following a recent hack.

Image: SOPA Images / Getty Images

By Stan Schroeder2019-05-13 08:16:33 UTC

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance, which is recovering from last week’s security incident which allowed hackers to steal 7,000 bitcoins (roughly $40 million), said on Monday it has strengthened its security and promised it will allow deposits and withdrawals on Tuesday, May 14.

Following the hack, Binance halted all deposits and withdrawals to its platform until it could fully investigate what had caused the security breach. Trading on Binance was allowed to continue.

“In the past few days, we have made some significant overhauls to our system, with a large number of advanced security features added and/or completely re-architected. We will share details on some of the changes later,” Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao wrote in a blog post.

“We aim to fully resume deposits and withdrawals on Tuesday. The time will be communicated at a later stage, depending on how the testing goes. This upgrade will require a trading halt,” he wrote, promising another update tomorrow, as well as a longer update with more details after all operations on the platform have been resumed.

The news of the hack, as well as halted withdrawals and deposits on one of the world largest cryptocurrency exchanges, didn’t do much to stop Bitcoin’s meteoric price rise. Over the weekend, Bitcoin at one point reached the price of $7,500, the highest since August 2018, and more than double the price from just three months ago. Bitcoin’s price has tapered off significantly on Monday, and is currently at $7,029.

Disclosure: The author of this text owns, or has recently owned, a number of cryptocurrencies, including BTC and ETH.

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A once-extinct bird returned from the dead in a rare evolution process

A flightless bird evolved twice over different parts of history.

By Johnny Lieu2019-05-13 07:20:50 UTC

Around 136,000 years ago, a flightless bird became extinct.

The bird resided on the Indian Ocean atoll of Aldabra, which had its flora and fauna wiped out when the island was completely flooded by the sea.

Now, scientists from the University of Portsmouth and Natural History Museum say the bird managed to return from the dead.

It’s thanks to a rare event called iterative evolution, in which the process of evolution from a same ancestor is repeated along different points in history.

In this case, the white-throated rail — a bird indigenous to Madagascar — had evolved to become flightless in different occasions separated by a few thousand years.

Around 100,000 years ago, sea levels fell due to an ice age, allowing the island of Aldabra to exist once again. The rails, which migrated to other islands including Mauritius and Reunion, also landed on Aldabra.

Aldabra, then free of predators, allowed the rail to evolve and become flightless due to the lack of threats on the island. You can still find the last surviving colony of rails on the island today.

Researchers in the study, who published their findings in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, studied the rail’s fossils from before and after the flooding event. They found that the wing bones were in an advanced state of flightlessness, while bones from the ankle showed signs that it was evolving toward flightlessness.

“These unique fossils provide irrefutable evidence that a member of the rail family colonised the atoll, most likely from Madagascar, and became flightless independently on each occasion,” lead researcher Julian Hume said in a statement.

“Fossil evidence presented here is unique for rails, and epitomises the ability of these birds to successfully colonise isolated islands and evolve flightlessness on multiple occasions.”

David Martill, a co-author on the study, said they know of no other example of rails or birds generally, who’ve exhibited the phenomenon of iterative evolution. Sabretooths, with their impressive teeth, have benefited from this process over the course of history.

“Only on Aldabra, which has the oldest palaeontological record of any oceanic island within the Indian Ocean region, is fossil evidence available that demonstrates the effects of changing sea levels on extinction and recolonisation events,” he added.

“Conditions were such on Aldabra, the most important being the absence of terrestrial predators and competing mammals, that a rail was able to evolve flightlessness independently on each occasion.”

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Kawhi Leonard Saved the Raptors with a Shot Toronto Will Never Forget

TORONTO, ON - MAY 12: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors looks on after sinking a buzzer beater to win Game Seven of the second round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers at Scotiabank Arena on May 12, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

TORONTO — Kawhi Leonard walked back toward the Toronto Raptors‘ bench in Scotiabank Arena. The clock read 4.2 seconds. The score was tied. Leonard had been—and done—everything for the Raptors all night. He was the reason they were in this position, on the verge of advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for just the second time in franchise history.

But he’d also nudged the door open for the Philadelphia 76ers, gifting them an opportunity to steal the series. He was standing at the free-throw line just moments earlier, his team leading by two and the Sixers out of timeouts. Splash both, and the Raptors would have owned a three-point lead. Leonard hit the first, but the second shot, a line drive, clanked off the front of the rim. Sixers forward Tobias Harris grabbed it. He tossed the ball ahead to Jimmy Butler, who floated it above the outstretched arms of Raptors forward Serge Ibaka and off the glass, tying the game.

Leonard’s shoulders sank, his head dropped. Raptors head coach Nick Nurse called a timeout to draw up a play. It called for Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry to cut down from half court to the corner and Leonard to pop out to the perimeter off a Pascal Siakam screen. Sitting there on the bench, Leonard flipped on his hard drive.

First, he thought about a three-pointer he’d recently missed. “It ended up coming short, I knew I had to put it up even higher than that,” he’d say later.

Then, he dug even further, back to Toronto’s first-round playoff matchup against the Orlando Magic. Nurse had called a similar play at one point.

“I ended up just catching and shooting the ball, it was probably about three seconds,” Leonard would say later. Sitting on the bench listening to Nurse, he noticed the clock. “There were four seconds left and, remembering that moment, I knew I had some time to try and get some space rather than just catch and shoot the ball.”

There’s a rule in basketball, one most players learn early: You can generally take one dribble for every second on the clock.

Leonard received the inbounds pass from Raptors center Marc Gasol and took four hard dribbles to the right, sprinting away from a Sixers trap and away from Ben Simmons, the Sixers player defending him, and toward the 7’0″ Joel Embiid and deep into the right corner. He launched the ball over Embiid’s arms and high into the air, his 39th shot of the game—this one a rainbow as opposed to his typical lighting bolt—and fell to the ground as he listened to the final horn buzz and watched the ball bounce off the rim once, and then again, and then again.

And then one final time before rolling through the net, lifting the Raptors to a 92-90 home Game 7 win, the first-ever Game 7 buzzer-beater in NBA history.

“Like a goddamned movie,” is how Raptors guard Danny Green described the play to Raptors assistant coach Jeremy Castleberry in a giddy Raptors locker room after the game.

“Sometimes it takes a bit of luck,” Raptors center Marc Gasol said.

“It is good that the balancing scales were there tonight,” Nurse said.

It’s a cliche to describe sports as a game of inches, but cliches also exist for a reason. They’re often true, and in this case, those inches—Leonard’s shot just evading Embiid’s fingertips, the ball rolling forward on the rim and toward the net instead of backward and toward the floor—could alter the future not of just the Raptors but the entire NBA.

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

Kawhi carries Toronto to the Eastern Conference Finals! https://t.co/lEeXsbuuDW

Leonard’s situation in Toronto is well-documented. Over the summer, having decided that his very good team had plateaued and desperate to build a great one, Raptors team president Masai Ujiri rolled the dice: He dealt fan favorite DeMar DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for the disgruntled Leonard. Leonard will be a free agent this summer. The Raptors had one season to persuade him. Making the finals or winning a championship wouldn’t come with any assurances, but there’s also no better recruiting tool.

That’s what was on the line in Game 7, a game where Leonard had to scratch and claw his way to 41 points. There were stretches of action when he seemed to be the only Raptor willing and interested in taking a shot. A loss under such circumstances could have undercut all of Toronto’s efforts. Instead, the Raptors presented Leonard with a gift, aside from a moment he’ll never forget, one he so rarely allows himself to enjoy: the opportunity to feel.

“I’m a guy that acts like that I’ve been there before, so probably the last time you’ve seen me scream is when we won (during his time in San Antonio),” Leonard said. “Whenever it’s a moment that I haven’t really experienced, I probably try to give and show some emotion and let it just come out.”

TORONTO, CANADA - MAY 12: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors speaks with the media after Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers on May 12, 2019 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ont

Ron Turenne/Getty Images

As Leonard was explaining to reporters how a human emotion managed to escape, Embiid was among his teammates, picking orange slices out of a black Tupperware container, searching for answers. The locker room was silent. Jimmy Butler studied a print out of a box score.

Embiid had played 45 minutes that night, a number that, just years ago, as he was recovering from multiple surgeries and being kept in bubble wrap, would have seemed unfathomable. This wasn’t his best performance. He struggled on offense at times yet still finished the game with a solid 21 points on 6-for-18 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds, three blocks and four assists.

More telling: As had been the case all season, the Sixers hemorrhaged points whenever he left the floor. He was their best player and most impactful player, just as he’d been all year. He’d given everything to this season, playing more games and minutes than ever. Leonard’s shot seemed to break him.

He collapsed into Marc Gasol’s arms after the ball dropped to the floor.

“You’re going to be in this position again,” Gasol told him. “Don’t see this as failure, losing is not failure.”

T.J. McConnell, Embiid’s longtime teammate and the only other player left from The Process years, led Embiid back to the locker room, where he was met by his girlfriend. She wiped away his tears. She put her hand on his cheek. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Have you ever lost a Game 7?” he asked general manager Elton Brand later on. Brand told him he had.

Embiid showered and dressed. He addressed reporters from the podium alongside Butler.

“I don’t know, I mean, I don’t know. Game 7. Losing a game that way. Last shot, after a hard-fought game. I feel like we had a chance, a lot of things are going through,” he offered when asked to describe what he was feeling. He then summarized his thoughts more succinctly: “It sucks. I don’t know, I can’t explain it, it just sucks.”

“To see him have the emotion that he has, and he’s one of many in that locker room, it is painful for all of us but to your question with Joel, he’ll look in the rearview mirror and remember this,” Sixers head coach Brett Brown said. “He will come out better and smarter and stronger and more aware of what it takes to play longer than we’ve been able to play.”

The question now is: Who will be with him for that ride? Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris are both free agents (Butler demurred when asked postgame about his contract). Ben Simmons is up for an extension. And of course, there’s Brown. For months, Sixers managing partner Josh Harris has stoked rumors that failure to lead the team to the conference finals could cost Brown his job. It seems silly to allow a couple of bounces to decide a coach’s future, but that Harris has refused to publicly back Brown is telling.

The two men met at half court moments before tipoff. The conversation ended with a fist bump. After the loss, Brown was asked if he’s addresses these rumors with ownership.

“We’ve talked internally a lot, the club can respond to that,” Brown said. He added: “I’m proud of what we’ve built. To take that next step is the mission.”

For the Sixers, that next step will have to wait. The Raptors, meanwhile, get to move on. Maybe they beat the Milwaukee Bucks, maybe they fall. For now, thanks to a few inches, their season lives on, and with it comes hope, for now and beyond.

Yaron Weitzman covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow Yaron on Twitter, @YaronWeitzman, and sign up for his newsletter here.

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Two Saudi oil tankers among ‘sabotaged’ ships off UAE coast

Saudi Arabia says two of its oil tankers were sabotaged off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in attacks that caused “significant damage” to the vessels.

One of the ships was en route to pick up Saudi oil to take to the United States, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday.

The announcement by al-Falih came as the UAE’s regional allies condemned the reported sabotage on Sunday of four ships off the coast of the port city of Fujairah.

On Sunday, Iranian and Lebanese media outlets aired reports of explosions at the city’s port but UAE authorities said the reports were inaccurate.

Emirati officials have declined to elaborate on the nature of the sabotage to the ships or say who might have been responsible.

The reports come as the US warned ships that “Iran or its proxies” could be targeting maritime traffic in the region, and as the US is deploying an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Gulf to counter what it called “threats from Tehran”.

Further clarification

Shortly after the Saudi announcement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry called for further clarification about what exactly happened with the Saudi tankers.

The ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying there should be more information about the incident.

Mousavi also warned against any “conspiracy orchestrated by ill-wishers” and “adventurism by foreigners” to undermine the maritime region’s stability and security.

Tensions have risen in the year since President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, restoring US sanctions that have pushed Iran’s economy into crisis.

Last week, Iran warned it would begin enriching uranium at higher levels in 60 days if world powers failed to negotiate new terms for the deal.

In his statement, al-Falih said the attacks on the two tankers happened at 6am on Sunday.

“One of the two vessels was on its way to be loaded with Saudi crude oil from the port of Ras Tanura, to be delivered to Saudi Aramco’s customers in the United States,” al-Falih said.

“Fortunately, the attack didn’t lead to any casualties or oil spill; however, it caused significant damage to the structures of the two vessels.”

Saudi Arabia did not identify the vessels involved, nor did it say whom it suspected of carrying out the alleged sabotage.

Underlining the regional risk, the general-secretary of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council described the alleged sabotage as a “serious escalation” in an overnight statement.

“Such irresponsible acts will increase tension and conflicts in the region and expose its peoples to great danger,” Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani said.

Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen’s internationally recognised government similarly condemned the alleged sabotage.

A statement on Sunday from the UAE’s Foreign Ministry put the ships near the country’s territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman, east of the port of Fujairah.

It said it was investigating “in cooperation with local and international bodies.”

Earlier on Sunday, Lebanon’s pro-Iran satellite channel Al-Mayadeen, quoting “Gulf sources”, reported that a series of explosions had struck Fujairah’s port.

State and semi-official media in Iran picked up the report from Al-Mayadeen, which later published the names of vessels it claimed were involved.

AP news agency, after speaking to Emirati officials and local witnesses, found the report about explosions at the port to be unsubstantiated.

Fujairah’s port is about 140km south of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Gulf through which a third of all oil at sea is traded.

The facility handles oil for bunkering and shipping, as well as general and bulk cargo.

It is seen as strategically located, serving shipping routes in the Gulf, Indian subcontinent and Africa.

Sunday’s incident comes after the US Maritime Administration, a division of the US Transportation Department, warned on Thursday that Iran could target commercial sea traffic.

“Since early May, there is an increased possibility that Iran and/or its regional proxies could take action against US and partner interests, including oil production infrastructure, after recently threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz,” the warning read.

“Iran or its proxies could respond by targeting commercial vessels, including oil tankers, or US military vessels in the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait or the Persian Gulf.”

Early on Sunday, the agency issued a new warning to sailors about the alleged sabotage, while stressing “the incident has not been confirmed”.

It urged shippers to exercise caution in the area for the next week.

It remains unclear if the previous warning from the US Maritime Administration is the same perceived threat that prompted the White House to order the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the region on May 4.

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How to unlock your online skills and level up in life

Presented by RMIT

By Mashable Brand X

Upskilling has become a big part of our everyday lives. In an ever-evolving tech age, we’re eager to learn, experience, and do more than ever before. So, it comes as no surprise that taking on new challenges and exploring different directions in life has become the norm for so many of us.

But how do we become more proactive yet practical with our time when we barely have any left at the end of each day? We head to the internet, of course.

It’s time to sharpen those pencils, dust off the books, and get back to basics. Well, sort of.

Online degrees and computer-based learning have become such a big part of our education experience that it’s no surprise students are enrolling in degrees they can tailor to their specific needs. Levelling up in an online capacity (without those pesky time and distance barriers getting in the way) allows us to take a more personalised approach to learning — as well as doing so in our own time.

Online education portals like those offered at Australia’s RMIT University allow students to sign up for courses and classes that will actually help them unlock new skills and information that directly applies to their future careers. This is extra helpful if you’re looking to investigate a new profession or take the next step in your career with a master’s degree.

Why spend your time chained to a seat in a stuffy classroom when you can get those straight As from the beach, the great outdoors or the open road? The degrees at RMIT University, such as the Master of HR Management, are 100 percent online and are future-focused on developing and building specialised contemporary skills, no matter what industry you’ve come from or are preparing to enter into.

Now, this is something you can do no matter what you’ve got going on in the rest of your life. Whether you’re studying, working or enjoying a well-deserved break, organising your finances will help you take control (and ownership) of your future in a real and powerful way.

If you’re not much of a numbers or spreadsheets kind of person, why not check out a range of online resources and apps that can do it all for you? Apps like Quicken, Mint, and Prism are super helpful because they allow you to view all your accounts and investments in one place, track your budget and help you focus on saving.

If you’re already on the enlightened money path, why not check out Raiz instead? This investing-for-beginners app invests your spare change from your everyday purchases and puts it into a diversified portfolio that grows in the background as you continue to live your best life.

Just think about it this way — it’s one small step for you, one giant step for that overseas adventure you’ve been dreaming about for the last few years.

Why do we always focus on fixing the things on the outside but are less interested in taking a closer look at how we’re doing on the inside?

Deciding to put your health in the spotlight is a great way to proactively ditch any habits you’re not too fond of, get out of the house, and challenge yourself in new ways.

Apps like MyFitnessPal, Centr and Headspace have the ability to push you physically but also take care of your mind, body, and spirit by encouraging meditation and mindfulness on a regular basis. Even half an hour each day can have a major impact on your general wellbeing.

Go on, you’re worth it!

Whether you love taking pics or shooting video for work, study, side-hustles or just with your friends for fun, cloud-based software programs like Evernote are a must-have because they help you store all types of media files in the one spot.

Unlike Dropbox, Evernote uploads everything to the cloud, which means you can access your content (yes, even audio files) from anywhere and save any changes to the files along the way. Best of all, if you’re an Evernote user, items saved on your computer can be accessed on your mobile or other connected device.

What does this actually mean besides being super convenient and giving off the impression that you’re super organised? Well, it means you can literally work and study from anywhere in the world. Yep, true global citizen status is just around the corner.

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Actors lampoon Constance Wu’s reaction to her show being renewed

Constance Wu’s reaction to ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ being renewed has prompted an apology from the actress.

Image: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images

By Johnny Lieu2019-05-13 04:33:33 UTC

Constance Wu, who seemed rather unenthused at Fresh Off the Boat getting another season, has inspired other celebrities to react in the same way.

Wu came under the spotlight over the weekend after posting tweets and Instagram comments which indicated she was not happy about the renewal of her sitcom, which is now set to enter its sixth season.

So upset right now that I’m literally crying. Ugh. Fuck

— Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) May 10, 2019

The comments were criticised as being insensitive to the show’s crew, and other actors who are struggling.

Those words, “fucking hell,” became something of a catch-cry as people announced that their shows were getting a run.

Like Joel Kim Booster, who had Sunnyside picked up by NBC for the 2019-20 season.

Fucking hell. We have a trailer! I’m literally crying! We also have a time slot! Thursday nights at 9:30PM. Ugh. Fuck. I’m so lucky. Happy Mother’s Day. pic.twitter.com/sYJWe63uwh

— Joel Kim Booster (@ihatejoelkim) May 12, 2019

Rahul Kohli, who plays Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti in The CW’s iZombie, also repeated those words.

As well as Allison Tolman, who had her series Emergence picked up, plus The Golbergs’ Sam Lerner and The Orville’s Seth MacFarlane.

Wu later apologised for the comments in a statement, explaining that she was upset not because she hated the show, but rather it forced her to give up a project she was passionate about.

“My words and ill-timing were insensitive to those who are struggling, especially insensitive considering the fact that I used to be in that struggle too,” she wrote.

“I do regret that and it wasn’t nice and I am sorry for that. I know it’s a huge privilege that I even HAVE options—options that FOTB has afforded me.”

[h/t Hollywood Reporter]

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John Wick; A handy guide to who’s who in the franchise

OK, so you’ve seen the trailers, you’ve heard the hype, but let’s face it — you still can’t distinguish John Wick from a candle wick.

Never fear, you’re not the only one. Here’s everything you need to know about the legendary hitman and his cohort of friends and frenemies before the latest flick in the franchise hits screens across the country.

It’s been two long years since we last saw John on screen in John Wick: Chapter 2, so the anticipation for the third instalment has been intense. Yep, it’s been a minute. As the movie gods would have it, things in Wick-world have well and truly gone from bad to worse in the meantime.

When we last saw John, he had just been ex-communicated from the criminal underworld for breaking the one rule of The Continental: no killing on hotel grounds (he killed a member of the High Table, a council for the highest-level crime lords in the world). Winston, John’s occasional ally, gives him a one-hour head start to get out of the city after a global contract for $14 million was put on his head. And that’s where we left off.

In John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum, our hero is on the run from a host of assassins — but not for long. This is John Wick, after all. With Reeves back in the main role, alongside co-stars new faces Asia Kate Dillon, Halle Berry, and Angelica Huston, and old friends Lawrence Fishburne and Ian McShane, the third chapter in the series promises more stunts and fight scenes, and more dogs than ever before.

Phew, now that you’re caught up, here’s the lowdown on all the new and returning characters in Chapter 3. It goes without saying, there are spoilers aplenty.

John Wick

Keanu Reeves stars as the titular character of the franchise.

The man himself! John Wick (Keanu Reeves) aka The Boogeyman, is an ex-assassin whose life gets turned upside down when his wife, Helen, dies of a terminal illness. Before her death, she arranges for the world’s cutest beagle puppy to be delivered to John to help with his grief following her passing — and let’s just say, there’s not a dry eye in the house when he realises what she’s done.

While trying to recover from the trauma of losing his wife, John takes his new puppy, Daisy, for a drive in his awesome 1969 Mustang. That’s when things get troublesome.

A high-ranking member of the Russian mafia asks to buy the car, and when John turns him down, the dejected mob boss shows up at John’s house in the middle of the night with a bunch of his pals to beat the heck out of John and kill poor Daisy. Rude! It’s truly heartbreaking, so if you haven’t seen the first film, maybe consider yourself lucky. Poor doggo.

Needless to say, the almost super-human John seeks revenge in a major way and the plot thickens. But hey, if you’re going to avenge the death of anyone or anything, a dog is a pretty good reason. By the time John Wick: Chapter 2 comes around, John takes off to Rome to kill the sister of an Italian crime lord but gets double crossed. On the plus side? He’s got a new pup in tow.

Why the summary? Well, we don’t actually know much about John beyond the fact that he’s a lean, mean, killing machine. Thankfully, we’re about to find out a whole lot more about John’s personal life as the third film is said to be an origin story that explores his upbringing and past.

The Director

In helping us learn more about where John came from, a new character, The Director, might finally have some answers. According to director, Chad Stahelski, The Director (played by Angelica Houston) is said to be “someone who was responsible for Wick’s upbringing and his protection.” Fascinating.

Sofia

Making her John Wick debut, Halle Berry joins the cast as Sofia. She meets up with John in the Middle East after he seeks her out and asks for assistance. We can tell from the trailer though that she’s not too keen on helping out, saying, “After this, we are less than even.” What can we deduce from this seemingly throwaway line? Well, it says the two have a history. Exciting!

Most importantly, Sofia’s character has two doggos of her own, continuing the tradition of canine-based plot lines in the film franchise. “Whereas John’s puppy was symbolic of his wife, Halle’s two dogs are symbolic of someone she’s lost,” Stahelski told EW.

While speaking to Screen Rant, Reeves divulged even more info about the new character, saying, “I have her marker. So, she has some obligations that she might not want to fulfil.”

The Adjudicator

Played by Asia Kate Dillon, The Adjudicator is linked to the High Table — a.k.a. the criminal council. Based on what we’ve seen in the trailer, it seems she’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to new characters keen on killing John.

Not sure where you’ve seen Dillon’s face before? You might recognise her from her role as Brandy in Orange is the New Black.

Zero

Talk about a villain with a vendetta. Mark Dacascos plays Zero, John’s main enemy throughout the film and another member of the High Table. Dacascos is best known for his roles in Iron Chef: America, Agents of Shield and Hawaii Five-0.

Winston

Returning for the third film, Winston (Ian McShane) is best known as the owner and manager of the Continental Hotel in New York City — a neutral zone for hired killers just like John. If anyone breaks the hotel rules and kills someone on the premises, it’s up to Winston to decide on the punishment for that person.

Important storyline reminder — Winston gave John a blood marker in the second film to keep in case he ever needed a favour in times of grave danger…

Bowery King

Laurence Fishburne returns as the underground crime lord, The Bowery King, but we’re not quite sure whose side he’s actually on in the latest instalment. He did help John recover from his extensive injuries in the last movie though, so you never know.

John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum hits cinemas from May 16.

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